Economics of Higher Education under Occupation: The Case of Palestine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v4i10.820Keywords:
Economics of higher education, National dignity and identity, Socio-Economic development, Human capital.Abstract
Through some extremely difficult experiences, education in general and Higher Education in particular has remained a constant focus of resources in Palestine. Due to the ongoing occupation of Palestine, Palestinian universities could not expect to contribute significantly to economic development in the same way as other institutions around the world. However, the establishment and development of universities in Palestine meant that Palestine was investing in Palestinians, and, for reasons discussed in this paper, the development represented a clear breakthrough to be celebrated throughout Palestinian society. Most of the previous studies on the Economics of Higher Education (HE) have not explicitly dealt with the Economics of Higher Education under occupation, especially in Palestine, neglecting much of the broader context and strategic impact of Palestinian Higher Education. This research investigates in depth Palestinian HE socio-economic outcomes for Palestinians, bringing to the light the meaning of HE under occupation that goes beyond mere economic impact to include its impact on Palestinians' human capital, dignity, and national identity reflecting the unique case of Palestine. This research reveals that from very early on it was clear that Palestinian Higher Education could not give the economy a boost, but that universities did give people a pride in Palestine, which, given the conditions of a brutal military occupation that increasingly separated one Palestinian from the next, amounted to quite a significant achievement. It demonstrated the central role Palestinian HE plays in the life of Palestinians as it is goes beyond means of economic growth to means of survival, building human capital, and maintaining people's dignity and national identity.
References
Abdel-Karim, R., & Helou, S. (2013). The future of engineering education in Palestine. Procedia - social and behavioral sciences, Volume 102, 22, pp. 482–489. 6th International forum on engineering education (IFEE 2012).
Abu Hilal, M. (1998). The compatibility of higher education with the local labor market: Analytical study. Research and studies center of the Palestinian: Economic department, a series of research reports (9), Nablus, Palestine.
Abu-Lughod, Ibrahim (1993). The university and the Palestinian society, conference proceedings, the academic conference of the Union of Palestinian workers at the university of Birzeit "toward activating the relationship between the university and the community," Birzeit university, Palestine.
Abu Lughod, Ibrahim (1973). Educating a community in exile: The Palestinian experience. Journal of Palestine studies, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 94-111.
Al-Haq (2005). Palestinian education under Israeli occupation. Paper presented at the conference on “international law in the shadow of Israeli occupation” Stockholm, Sweden on 12 April 2005. Retrieved on 10 July 2014 from: http://asp.alhaq.org/zalhaq/site/eDocs/txtDocs/Presentations/Palestinian%20Education%20under%20Israeli%20Occupation%20-%20final.pdf
Al-Holi, A. (2009). The economic returns on education. Lecture Series on economics of education. Gaza, Palestine.
Attia, M. (2009). Education and cultural identity crisis. Tiba institution for publication and distribution, Cairo, Egypt.
Baalousha, G., Al-Talbani, M., Tayeh, M., Omari, N. and Talbani, I. (2009). The development role of higher education in Palestine, Institute for development studies. Retrieved September 16, 2015 from: http://www.idsps.org/new/doc/The%20development%20role%20of%20higher%20education%20in%20Palestine.PDF
Bader, M. (2012). The effect of education on economic growth in Jordan: An econometric study (1976 – 2007) "The modified version". Dirasat, Administrative Sciences, Volume 39, No. 1.
Baramki , G. (2010). Peaceful resistance: Building a Palestinian University under occupation. London: Pluto press.
Baramki, Gabi (2000). The problems of higher education in Palestine. Palestinian politics. Ramallah- Palestine.
Barro, R. J. (2001). Human capital and growth. American economic review, 91(2), 12–17.
Becker, G.S., Murphy, K.M., and Tamura, R. (1990). Human capital, fertility, and economic growth. Journal of political economy, 98, No. 5, pp. 12-38.
Bloom, D., Canning, D., and Chan, K. (2006a). Higher education and economic development in Africa. Human development sector, Africa region, Harvard University.
Bloom, D.E., Hartley, M., and Rosovsky, H. (2006b). Beyond private gain: The public benefits of higher education. In James J. F. Forest and Philip G. Altbach, eds., International handbook of higher education.
Bruhn, C. (2006). Higher education as empowerment: The case of Palestinian Universities. American Behavioral Scientist, 49 (8), 1125-1142.
Burchi, Francesco (2006). Identifying the role of education in socio-economic development. Working paper, international conference on human and economic resources, Izmir, Turkey, pp. 193-206.
Caldwell, John. (1979). Education as a factor in mortality decline: An examination of Nigeria data. Population studies, 33.
Card, D. (1999). The causal effect of education on earnings. In O. Ashenfelter and D. Card, (Eds.), handbook of labor economics (pp. 1801-1863). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier science.
Darwish, H. (2009). Higher education in Palestine: A quality assurance perspective. Global higher education forum. Retrieved 20 August 2015 from: www.gheforum.usm.my
Doocy S., and Burnham, G. (2006). Assessment of socio-economic status in the context of food insecurity: Implications for field research. World health and population, 8: 32–42.
Duncan, G.J., Daly, M.C., McDonough, P., and Williams, D.R. (2002). Optimal indicators of socioeconomic status for health research. American journal of public health and wealth, 92:1151–57.
Dweikat, K., (2009). The role of graduate studies and research in achieving sustainable development in Palestine. Paper presented at the conference on “Overseeing the future of graduate studies in Palestine”. An-najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
EACEA- Tempus. (2012). Higher education in the occupied Palestinian territory. Retrieved July 10, 2015 from: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/participating_countries/overview/oPt.pdf
Folloni, G., & Vittadini, G. (2010). Human capital measurement: A survey. Journal of economic surveys, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 248–279.
Harmon, C., Oosterbeek, H. and Walker, I. (2003). The returns to education: microeconomics. Journal of Economic Surveys, 17(2): 115–155.
Javed, Z., Khilji, B., and Mujahid, M. (2008). Impact of education on socio-economic status of villagers life: a case study of Shrien Wala village of Faisalabad district. Pakistan economic and social review volume, 46, No. 2, pp. 133-146.
Khatatba, B. (2010). The role of higher education in the Promotion of Palestinian identity and its impact on political development from the perspective of students and staff An-Najah University as a Model”. Unpublished Master thesis, An-Najah National University, Nablus- Palestine. Retrieved on July 1, 2014 from: http://scholar.najah.edu/sites/default/files/all-thesis/
Kyllonen, P. C. (2012). The importance of higher education and the role of noncognitive attributes in college success. Pensamiento educativo. Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana, 49, 84–100.
Lange, F. and Topel, R. (2006).The social value of education and human capital. In: Hanushek, E. and Welch, F. (Ed.), Handbook of the economics of education, Vol. 1, Elsevier, North Holland, pp. 459-509.
Lucas, Robert E. (1988). On the mechanics of economics development. Journal of Monetary Economics, XXII: 3-42.
McCrudden, C. (2008). Human Dignity and Judicial Interpretation of Human Rights. The European journal of international law, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 655 – 724.
Ministry of education & higher education (2013). Statistical yearbook 2012/2013. Ramallah, Palestine.
Morris, S., Carletto C., Hoddinott, and Christiaensen, L. (2000). Validity of rapid estimates of household wealth and income for health surveys in rural Africa. Journal of Epidemiol community health, 54:381–387.
Nelson, R. R. and Phelps, E. S. (1966). Investment in humans, technological diffusion, and economic growth. The American economic review, 56, 69—75.
Niemi, R., and Junn J. (1998). Civic education: What makes students learn. New Haven : Yale university Press.
Nussbaum, Martha (2003). Women’s education: A Global challenge. Journal of women in culture and society, 29: 325-355.
OECD (1998). Human capital investment. An international comparison. Paris: Centre for international research and innovation.
Osaily, R. (2013). The challenges facing learners in implementing E-learning in Hebron educational region at Al- Quds open university/ Palestine (Case study). Palestinian journal of open education, 4 (7). Retrieved June 18, 2015 from: http://www.qou.edu/arabic/magazine/openEdu/issued4_7/research4.pdf
Osman, S. (2000). The problems of graduate students at universities in the West Bank. Unpublished MA Thesis. An-Najah National University. Nablus. Palestine.
Pacetti, E. (2008). Improving the Quality of Education in Palestine through e-Learning and ICT: The Bottom-up Approach for a Sustainable Pedagogy. Paper presented at the Conference of Knowledge Construction in E-learning Context: CSCL, ODL, ICT and SNA in education, Cesena, Italy, September 1-2. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-398/S3_Pacetti.pdf
Palestinian central bureau of statistics (PCBS), (2013). The conditions of the Palestinian population living in Palestine. Ramallah, Palestine.
Palestinian central bureau of statistics (2010). Palestine in figures 2009. Ramallah – Palestine.
Palestinian central bureau of statistics, (2009). Dissemination and analysis of census findings. A comparative study on the social, familial, marital, educational and economic characteristics of the households in the Palestinian territory (1997 – 2007). Ramallah -Palestine.
Palestinian economic council for development and reconstruction) PECDAR( (2009).The development and reform of the Palestinian higher education: Problems and future impacts. Department of economic policy. Ramallah, Palestine.
Rebelo, S. (1991). Long-run policy analysis and Long-run growth. The journal of political economy, Vol. 99, No. 3, pp. 500-521.
Robinson, D. (2010). The status of higher education teaching personnel in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Canadian association of university teachers. Retrieved September 16, 2015 from: http://download.eiie.org/Docs/WebDepot/The%20Status%20of%20Higher%20Education%20Teaching%20Personnel%20in%20Israel,%20the%20West%20Bank%20and%20Gaza.pdf
Royce, J. (1995). The philosophy of loyalty. Vanderbilt university press, Nashville.
Roy, S. (1999). De-development revisited: Palestinian economy and society since Oslo. Journal of Palestine studies, 28 (3): 64-82.
Seibert-Fohr, A. (2001). Domestic implementation of the international covenant on civil and political rights pursuant to its article 2 para.2, 5 MPYUNL 399.
Sen, Amartya K. (2003). Development as Capability Expansion. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Shiva Kumar, A.K. eds. readings in human development, New York: Oxford University press. 3-16. Article originally published in 1989. Journal of development planning 19: 41-58.
Sen, Amartya (1984). Well being, agency and freedom: the dewey lectures. The journal of philosophy, 82, 169-221.
Smith, A.D. (1991). National Identity. London: Penguin.
Spence, M. (1976). Competition in salaries, credentials and signaling prerequisites for jobs. Quarterly journal of economics, 90(1): 51–74.
Stiglitz, J., Sen, M., and Fitoussi J. (2009). Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress. Retrieved June20, 2014 from: http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/documents/rapport_anglais.pdf
Streeten, Paul Patrick (2003). Shifting fashions in development dialogue. In Sakiko Fukuda Parr and Shiva Kumar, A.K. eds. Readings in human development. New York: Oxford university press. 68-81. Article originally published in 2003. International journal of applied economics and econometrics 11 (January-March).
Teacher Creativity Centre (2012). Assessing the educational system in Palestine: An NGO perspective. Context, problems, challenges and policy recommendations. Teacher creativity centre, Ramallah, Palestine.
The Palestinian centre for human rights (2005). Education in Palestine reality and ways of evolution. Studies series. 2, 38. Retrieved July 5, 2014 from: www.pchrgaza.org
The Palestine economic policy research institute (MAS). (2013). Toward education policies to stimulate a competitive knowledge economy in the Palestinian territories. Ramallah-Palestine.
The Palestine economic policy research institute (MAS). (2011). The financial crisis of the Palestinian universities. Round table (9). Ramallah-Palestine.
Thompson, John, B . (1995). The media and modernity. Social theory of the media polity press, Cambridge.
UNDP, (2012). Millennium development goals, general post, UNDP official webpage. Retrieved on 10 July 2014 from: http://www.ps.undp.org/content/papp/en/home/mdgoverview/overview/mdg2/
UNDP (1990). Human development report 1990: Concepts and measurement of human development, New York: Oxford university press.
UNESCO chair on human rights and democracy (2012). Measuring human rights: A comparative report on human rights trends at An-Najah university. Nablus, Palestine.
Walshok, M. (1997). Expanding roles for research universities in regional economic development. New directions for higher education, 97, 17–26.
Wilcox, S. (2004). Culture, national identity, and admission to citizenship. Social theory and practice, Vol. 30. No. 4.
World Bank (2006). West Bank and Gaza: Education sector analysis: Impressive achievements under harsh conditions and the way forward to consolidate a quality education system (Middle East and North Africa, Human Development Group). World Bank Report (2006). Retrieved July 16, 2015 from: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/EducationSectorAnalysisSept06.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
